Maryland Air National Guard
Maryland Air National Guard | |
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A-10C Thunderbolt II |
The Maryland Air National Guard (MD ANG) is the aerial
As state militia units, the units in the Maryland Air National Guard are not actively in the United States Air Force chain of command until federalized. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Maryland through the office of the Maryland Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Maryland Air National Guard is headquartered in Baltimore, and its commander is Brigadier General Drew Dougherty.
Overview
Under the "Total Force" concept, Maryland Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components (ARC) of the
Along with their federal reserve obligations, as state militia units the elements of the Maryland ANG are subject to being activated by order of the Governor to provide protection of life and property, and preserve peace, order and public safety. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of vital public services, and support to civil defense.
Components
The Maryland Air National Guard consists of the following major components:
- Headquarters, Maryland Air National Guard
- Stationed at: Fifth Regiment Armory, Baltimore
- Established 1 October 1962 as the 175th Tactical Fighter Group; operates: A-10 Thunderbolt II
- Stationed at: Warfield Air National Guard Base, Middle River
- The 175th Wing is a composite unit, with a fighter operations group and a cyberspace operations group. The 175 WG has two active USAF gaining commands: the United States Air Forces in Europe for its 235th Civil Engineer Flight.[1]
History
The Maryland Air National Guard traces its origins to 29 June 1921. On that date the
The 104th was initially assigned as division aviation for the
World War II
Along with the rest of the Maryland National Guard, the 104th was mobilized for federal service on 3 February 1941. During the war, the 104th flew anti-submarine patrols out of Atlantic City, N.J., in O-46s and was awarded campaign credit for participation in the Anti-Submarine Campaign.
Cold War
In 1946, the 104th was reactivated as the 104th Fighter Squadron at Baltimore Municipal Airport, equipped with P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft, later replaced by P-51 Mustangs. From 1955 to 1958, the unit was organized as a fighter-interceptor squadron and charged with defending the Baltimore-Washington area against possible Soviet bomber attack. The unit soon converted to F-86 Sabre, and in 1957 relocated to the Glenn L. Martin Company Airport, whose longer runway was necessary to support jet operations.
Maryland gained a second flying unit – and its first group-level headquarters – in 1955 when the 135th Air Resupply Group was organized at Harbor Field. The 135th was one of a handful of Air Force special operations units in existence at the time. Equipped with Curtiss C-46 Commando transports and SA-16 Albatross seaplanes, its mission was the covert infiltration, resupply, and extraction of special forces. Redesignated as the 135th Air Commando Group in 1963 and then the 135th Special Operations Group in 1968, it was one of only five such units throughout the Air National Guard. It remained at Harbor Field until 1960, when it too relocated to the Martin Company Airport.
A second group headquarters was added in 1962, when the 175th Tactical Fighter Group was established in October. The 104th Tactical Fighter Squadron, which had heretofore operated as an independent squadron, became a part of the new group.
The spring of 1968 brought considerable activity, with both the 135th and 175th being called out to help quell
The Maryland Air National Guard endured multiple changes in designation and equipment during the 1970s. The 135th Special Operations Group switched first to a tactical air support role, where it flew forward air controller missions with O-2A Skymasters,[4] then in 1977, assumed a new mission and was redesignated the 135th Tactical Airlift Group and equipped with the de Havilland C-7A Caribou. In 1980, the unit converted to the C-130 Hercules aircraft.
The 175th Tactical Fighter Group also changed aircraft to meet the evolving needs of the Air Force. In 1970, the 175th turned in its F-86s and received A-37 Dragonflies in their place. Nine years later, in 1979, the unit was re-equipped with brand new A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from the Fairchild factory in Hagerstown, Maryland.
The military facilities at Martin State Airport were formally renamed the Warfield Air National Guard Base in honor of Maj Gen (Ret) Edwin Warfield III, former Adjutant General of Maryland, in 1982 and the base has since been known as Warfield Air National Guard Base. The civilian portion of the field had been obtained by the state and renamed Martin State Airport in 1975.
Gulf War and Peacekeeping
Despite the end of the Cold War, the Maryland Air National Guard remained heavily involved in operations around the world through the remainder of the century. During the build-up to the 1991 Persian Gulf War, a number of unit personnel were mobilized to fill support roles. Three Maryland C-130s were mobilized and deployed to Germany to “backfill” for aircraft being sent into the combat theater, while the unit's Mobile Aerial Port Flight was called up and sent to Dover Air Force Base, Del. The same year, the 175th won Gunsmoke, the U.S. Air Force Worldwide Gunnery Competition, earning recognition as the best fighter unit in the Air Force.
The 135th participated in humanitarian relief efforts in
On 15 June 1996, the two flying groups of the Maryland Air National Guard merged to form the 175th Wing. The 175th Wing, which carries on the lineage and honors of the 175th Fighter Group, is a composite organization with an Air Combat Command-gained fighter unit, and Air Mobility Command-gained airlift unit, a U.S. Air Forces in Europe-gained civil engineer flight, and, since 2006, an information operations squadron.
The wing has been deeply involved in fielding the latest Air Force aircraft. In 1999, it dedicated its first C-130J, the latest and most advanced version of the venerable transport. The 135th played a major role in the operational test and evaluation of the aircraft, procedures development and evaluation, and was the first fully equipped C-130J unit in the U.S. Air Force. In 2011, the unit again transitioned aircraft, this time to the new C-27J Spartan.
The wing was also selected as the lead unit to convert to the new A-10C – the first A-10 aircraft in the U.S. Air Force to be modified for precision engagement. Beginning in 2006, wing personnel were deeply involved in the test and evaluation process and in September 2007, the 104th Fighter Squadron became the first unit to take the A-10C into combat, when it deployed to Iraq.
War on Terror
Since the
In addition to its service overseas, the Maryland Air National Guard has remained fully engaged at home. When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, the Maryland Air National Guard was among the first to respond. The 135th Airlift Group flew 42 relief missions and deployed nearly 200 troops to support recovery and relief efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi. From 2006 to 2008, the Maryland Air Guard deployed a number of members to Arizona in support of the U.S. Border Patrol's efforts to secure the U.S-Mexico border.[5] As a result of the USAF's decision to divest itself of the C-27, the 135th Airlift Group inactivated in 2013, bringing 58 years of service to a close.
First Sergeant Ribbon
The Maryland Air National Guard First Sergeant Ribbon was an award to honor
Notable members
- Jack L. Chalker, award-winning science fiction author
- Jack Turnbull, Olympic athlete and lacrosse legend
- Frederick Detrick, MD, flight surgeon and Fort Detrick namesake
- James Alvin Palmer, Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame Pitcher
- Mark Belanger, Baltimore Orioles shortstop
- Tom Young, novelist
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ 175th Wing website
- ^ Joseph H. Ewing: The 29th Infantry Division: A short history of a fighting division. Padacuh, Ky.: Turner Pub., 1992.
- ISBN 0-7385-4189-3
- ^ Harvey, Maj. William A., "Maryland's Air Guard", USAF Fighter Weapons Review, USAF Fighter Weapons School, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing, Nellis AFB, Nevada, Summer 1973, page 37.
- ^ "MDNG: History". Archived from the original on 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
- ^ MDANG STATE DECORATIONS AND AWARDS
- ^ 175th Wing, Air National Guard (25 August 2010). "Military Department Revamps State Awards Program". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- Gross, Charles J (1996), The Air National Guard and the American Military Tradition, United States Dept. of Defense, ISBN 0160483026
- Maryland National Guard website Archived 2005-10-18 at the Wayback Machine